Agenda item

To consider and endorse or make recommendations to the Cabinet Member for Planning, Highways, Transport and Waste to agree to the implementation of changes to selected bus services in Thanet and Sevenoaks effective from April 2019.

Mr Phil Lightowler (Head of Public Transport) was in attendance for this item.

1.    Mr P Lightowler introduced the report which set out the proposed changes, the consultation outcomes and the recommendations for changes to the Thanet and Sevenoaks bus services that were provisionally planned for implementation from 1 April 2019.

2.    Mr Balfour welcomed comments and questions from the Committee regarding the proposed changes to the Sevenoaks bus service:

(a)  Mr Lake (Member for Sevenoaks Rural South) was invited to speak.  Mr Lake requested that the proposed changes to remove the earlier and later 404 bus services from Sevenoaks to Edenbridge be reviewed due to the negative impact that this would have on school children and commuters.

b)    Mr Rayner (Member for Malling West) sought agreement to use his Combined Members Grant with additional contributions from neighbouring parishes to fund a replacement bus service for Sevenoaks.

3.    Mr Lightowler responded to comments and questions from Members, including the following: -

(a)  In response to Mr Lake’s concerns regarding the proposed withdrawal of the 6:00pm service, Mr Lightowler confirmed that the Go Coach operator and Kent County Council had deployed inspectors to travel on the Sevenoaks route to determine the number of regular users who were reliant on the 6:00pm service. The outcome of the inspections did not support the need for a 6:00pm commuter journey. With regards to the bus operator’s ability to manage increased demand as a result of school expansions, Mr Lightowler informed the Committee that major expansions were planned of the Sevenoaks schools and there were plans to review the future bus network.  He said that Kent County Council as the Public Transport Body would be meeting with bus operators, Trinity School and the Weald of Kent in the near future. Mr Lightowler acknowledged that this information was not within the consultation proposal document, however, he wanted to assure Members of the Committee that a separate piece of work which focused on the school network had commenced. Mr Lightowler agreed to liaise with Mr Lake outside of the Committee meeting.

(b)  In response to Mr Rayner’s suggestion, Mr Lightowler agreed to liaise with Mr Rayner and the Parish Council’s to determine whether a replacement bus service could be achieved using Combined Member Grants.

4.    Mr Balfour welcomed comments and questions from the Committee regarding the proposed changes to the Thanet bus service:

(a)  Mrs Binks (Member for Broadstairs) raised the following points:

·         The information within the report was incorrect as the number 56 bus service did not travel into Ramsgate,

·         whilst pleased that consultation resulted in the replacement service of the number 37 bus, Mrs Binks asked why the report failed to mention the two petitions and earlier public consultation meetings in relation to the 56 bus and why the offer made by residents to pay for the retention of the 56 service had not been followed up by officers; and

·         the proposed new route and timetable offered by the 37 bus service meant that fewer buses would be going to the hospital and would require those attending hospital appointments to walk a greater distance; both of which had a negative impact upon the elderly and disabled. Mrs Binks sought confirmation as to whether the timetables would be reviewed and whether the 37 bus service would be subject to discontinuation in the future.

(b)  Mr Lewis (Member for Margate) addressed concerns of social isolation and the negative impact that the proposed changes would have on Thanet as one of the most socially and economically deprived areas within Kent. With regard to the altered service stop which was a further 0.6 miles away from the city centre, Mr Lewis echoed the concerns of Mrs Binks and asked what assessment criteria had been applied to determine the effect on the elderly, those with disabilities and those with young children.

5.    Mr Lightowler responded to comments and questions from Members, including the following: -

(a)  In response to the concerns raised by Mrs Binks, Mr Lightowler confirmed that contracts were due to be withdrawn, however, these would be replaced by changes to the commercial network to ensure minimal impact to the user. The replacement of the number 56 service with the 37 service was Stagecoach’s response in terms of what they could provide to counteract the impact caused by the withdrawal of the number 56 service. With regards to the timetable, Stagecoach had agreed to review this, specifically the 09:24am journey as the new proposed time prohibited usage of the English National Concessionary Travel Scheme (ENCTS) bus pass. In response to whether the 37 bus service could be discontinued at some point in the future, Mr Lightowler said that Kent County Council could not hold commercial operators to a contractual time limit, however, he provided assurance that Stagecoach were continuing to invest within the Thanet network and further expansion was planned for 2019/20.

(b)  In response to the points raised by Mr Lewis, Mr Lightowler said that out of the 625 average daily users, only 108 had responded to the consultation which suggested that the revised network offered by the commercial bus service suited most user’s needs. There had also been two drop-in sessions whereby officers sat and spoke with individuals about their journey and could advise that person of the best alternative bus route. In response to comments regarding social isolation, Kent County Council aimed to achieve savings within its subsidised bus routes by offering alternative commercial services to its users and safeguard communities that only have access to one or two buses a week.

6.    Mr Lightowler and Mr Whiting (Cabinet Member for Planning, Highways, Transport and Waste) then responded to general comments and questions from Members on the proposed changes to the Thanet and Sevenoaks bus services, including the following: -

(a)  In response to questions from Mr Whybrow, Mr Lightowler said that Kent County Council preferred not to use the Bus Funding Criteria Tool on this occasion as it would have automatically focused on services that cost more per passenger subsidy. By adopting an intelligence led approach and liaising with all operators, the Council was able to find alternative routes within the commercial services network which would help generate savings and protect services that needed to remain in place. Supplementary to this, Mr Balfour (Chairman) and Mr M Whiting (Cabinet Member for Planning, Highways, Transport and Waste) supported Mr Whybrow’s request for a cross-party Member Working Group.

(b)  Mr Whiting confirmed that he would take into account Members comments and questions when taking the proposed decision (18/00072) and would respond in his verbal update to the issues raised by Members.

7.    RESOLVED that the comments and concerns raised by Members be noted and that that the proposed decision (18/00072) to be taken by the Cabinet Member for Planning, Highways, Transport and Waste to implement the changes to selected bus services in Thanet and Sevenoaks effective from April 2019, be endorsed.

(Mr B Lewis asked for his vote against this decision to be recorded)